The IVF Fertility Blog

We recently came across some interesting videos about in vitro maturation (IVM) and its existence as a "new technology" in the field of assisted reproduction. We were surprised, however, to discover some experts in the fertility field claiming the IVM treatment as new, considering the father of IVF, Robert Edwards, first used this treatment in 1965.

IVM is the process by which eggs retrieved during fertility treatment are matured outside the woman's body (in vitro) and implanted in an effort to help her conceive. One of two arguments among fertility experts when it comes to choosing IVM over IVF is to avoid ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS), which is associated with the fertility medication used during conventional in vitro fertilization treatment. The second is reduced cost compared to IVF, since the patient does not use or pay for large amounts of fertility medication since the egg is matured in vitro.

New Hope Fertility Center has been offering minimally invasive and cost effective IVF techniques for ten years, which not only compares to IVM in preventing OHSS and reducing cost, but offer the woman a treatment that is closer to mother nature. When we retrieve the few eggs produced during our Natural Cycle (one egg) and Mini-IVF™ (2-3 eggs) treatment, we transfer the subsequent embryos (suggesting single embryo transfers to all of our patients) and let nature do the rest. Those who argue IVM to be the more favorable option versus Natural and Mini-IVF™ treatments are not considering that the best environment in which an egg or embryo to mature is where it would mature in nature -- the woman's uterus.

For more information on our Natural and Mini-IVF™ treatments, which eliminate the risk of hyperstimulation associated with hormone injections, visit us on the web.